A few years ago my daughters treated me to my first ever manicure. When I went to the nail salon, something seemed strangely wrong, but I had no idea what. Today I do. I was served by a hostile and unskilled young Asian woman, always under the watchful eye of an older woman who did all the speaking. Looking back, I feel almost sure the young woman was a modern day slave. But at the time, I didn’t know such a thing existed, so I didn’t know how to correctly interpret the suspicious signs.
Victims of modern-day slavery may be found in legal, legitimate businesses, or in underground markets. They may be locked behind the closed doors of a brothel or factory, or in plain view. Widespread lack of awareness leads to low levels of victim identification, even by those who come in contact with them. Let’s change that! By learning the red flags for victim identification, victims will be more readily rescued and saved.
Here are some indicators which may raise a red flag that a person may be a victim of human trafficking. You may want to take a second look at situations where a person(s):
Appears to be under someone else’s control. They appear to be under surveillance at all times. All or most contacts with family, friends, and professionals are controlled and monitored.
Does not manage their own money or money is largely controlled by someone else.
Is not in control of their own identification or travel documents.
Work excessive hours.
Is unpaid for their work or paid very little.
Lives with multiple people in a very cramped space.
Lives with their employer.
Has little/no English language skills or knowledge of the local community.
Appears to have little privacy or is rarely alone.
Has visible injuries or scars, such as cuts, bruises, or burns. May have injuries around the head, face, and mouth from being struck in the head or face.(Sex slaves’ scars tend to be hidden, as on the lower back)
Has untreated illnesses or infections. Ex: Diabetes, cancer, TB.
Has general poor health and/or diseases associated with unsanitary living conditions.
Has STDs, HIV/Aids, pelvic pain/inflammation, rectal trauma, urinary difficulties, abdominal or genital trauma
Uses drugs- victims are often given drugs to keep them dependent.
Exhibits submissive behavior or fearful behavior in the presence of others.
Exhibits emotional distress such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, confusion, phobias, disorientation, self-inflicted injuries or suicide attempts.
Engages in prostitution or lives in a brothel.
Is sexually exploited in strip clubs, massage parlors, pornography.
Is branded with a tattoo of a man’s name or “Daddy.”
Exhibits feelings of helplessness, shame, humiliation, shock, denial or disbelief
Is pregnant as a result of rape or prostitution.
Additionally, for minors, if they:
Talk about an older boyfriend or sex with an older man/boyfriend
Use words associated with the commercial sex industry
Hang around commercial sex businesses like strip clubs, massage parlors, adult book/video stores
Have stunted growth, or poorly formed or rotting teeth
Anyone under 18 who engages in commercial sex (porn or prostitution) is legally a severe trafficking victim. Force, fraud or coercion does not need to be present as in the case of someone over 18.
If you suspect a case of human trafficking/slavery, call the national hotline number:
888-3737-888
It is important to talk to potential victims in a safe and confidential environment. If the victim is accompanied by someone who seems to have control over them, discretely attempt to separate the person from the individual accompanying him/her, without arousing suspicion, since this person could be the trafficker.
As needed, enlist the help of a professional who speaks the potential victim’s language and understands his or her culture.
Do not collect more information than you need! In depth interviews with the potential victim should be conducted by mental health professionals, law enforcement professionals or legal experts. Multiple interviews may confuse and/or re-traumatize victims and may put you at risk of being subpoenaed as a witness.
#1 Picture a nice rural high school, surrounded by lush farm land. As is so typical at this age, a sixteen year old girl is flattered when she is romanced by a boy at school . The boy brings the girl home to meet his mother, but instead of sitting down to a nice lunch and a chat, the mother pops an ad up on the internet advertising the girl for sex, and drives the teen to a hotel where she is sold to 20-30 men. An anonymous tip prompts police investigation which reveals that this family team was doing the same thing with a number of other 16 and 17 year old high school girls. This is the mother, son and daughter, who was also involved.
#2: A 18 year old girl ,who I’ll call “Mary”, living with her older sister, is taking a class at church and is pleased by the attention of a woman in the class. They become friends. One day after class, her new “friend” briefly introduces Mary to two men who, unknown to her, follow the girl home. Later in the week, when she is home alone, the men come back, tell Mary to pack her bags and come with them or they will kill her sister. She is terrified and does what they demand. For the next three years, Mary is shuttled from one location to another, to keep her disoriented and without a support system. She’s sold to be raped on average of 7-8 times a day, while the men pocket the money. To keep her compliant, they stab her with an ice pick, torture her, beat her and continued to threaten the lives of both her sister and her parents. These are the men.
# 3: Now picture a young woman, full of ambition, getting off a bus in a new city, needing a job and a place to live. She’s been chatting with a young man who seems friendly and interested in her well-being. In the course of the conversation the young man says he knows of a friend who might be able to help her get a job. Grateful, the girl follows up on the job lead—and ends up locked in a motel room waiting for clients to arrive in response to an on-line ad the “friend” put on the internet advertising her sexual services. Thankfully, the girl was able to get the attention of a motel worker who called for help and she was rescued, along with three other not-as-fortunate girls being held by this young man and his father. These girls had been dragged from town to town and sold for sex over a period of years. One of these girls, when rescued, was sobbing “I just want to see my mother!” This is the son in that father-son team.
And this one is a customer. Without him, the perpetrators would go out of business.
All of these stories are true. But what might surprise you is to learn that all of them happened in middle Tennessee . Stories #2 and 3 took place in Nashville. The high school in the first story was in Robertson County, NW of Nashville, and the hotel was in Murfreesboro. All happened within the past year– two of them in the last few months.
To quote David Batstone, founder and president of Not For Sale Campaign, “Look behind the façade of any major town or city in the world today, and you are likely to find a thriving commerce in human beings. You may even find slavery in your own backyard.” If you live in Tennessee, you WILL find it, when you look. It happens here.
How Do You Wear Your Orange? When I first heard the phrase “How do you wear your orange?”, and saw photos of people on the Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC) website wearing orange bandanas, bracelets and shoelaces, I thought it was merely a cute gimmick. I should have known better. Dave Batstone, NFSC’s president, isn’t into cute gimmicks.
Over time, I realized that the physical wearing of orange represented a core value of the Not For Sale movement: Our commitment to help find the place in ending slavery that fits you and your unique skills, experience, talents, passions and sphere of influence. Here are some snapshots of ways STUDENTS can engage:
Athletes/ Fitness buffs can organize Free2Play events, joining pros like Major League Baseball player Jeremy Affelt in providing facilities and equipment for rescued children, enabling them to be free to play or hold a Free2Walk event, raising awareness and funds for a project of their choice.
Artists can express their feelings about slavery in their art, hold an exhibition or art benefit or offer prints to raise funds to help victims. “Release Me” (see photo) is an example of an artist using her gifts and passion to free slaves.
Musicians can write a song about slavery, hold a benefit concert (both of which are current actions by the band 3 Minutes to Live), hold a battle of the bands, and/or sell items made by rescued slaves at their events, as artist Amy Courts does.
Groups of students can target specific areas of town to hang posters that lead to victim identification. A Not For Sale TN volunteer graphic designer created these eye-catching and effective tools. Write to us to arrange to pick up posters or to get a pdf file emailed to you to print your own by emailing info@notforsaletn.org.
Consumers can hold a home/school party, selling items made by rescued slaves and, in the process, sharing the stories behind the items, or host a Presents with a Purpose event before a holiday, enabling people to purchase gifts that bless the creator, as well as the receiver. Items include cute tote bags, beautiful, unique jewelry, coffee and more.
Actors can put on a production related to human trafficking. One group created a powerful presentation using victims’ own words from the book To Plead Our Own Cause.
Writers can write about slavery for the school paper, highlight local trafficking and the activities of Not For Sale for local media, create a play or poetry on modern slavery, and/or write to news media sources correcting terminology in reports on the topic i.e. prostituted children, NOT child prostitutes, world’s oldest exploitation not profession, no such thing as a ‘victimless crime’ etc.
Anyone can
Host a movie/discussion night, or other awareness and/or fundraising event. We have lots of resources and ideas to share with you.
Decorate some cans/jars or boxes, label them with a bit of information about NFSTN and human trafficking, and ask store owners for permission to place one by their cash register. Offer to come by to collect donations at regular, agreed upon intervals. Send the funds to donate@notforsaletn.org
Use your social networks to inform others about slavery. Commit to post at least one fact a week on FaceBook, Twitter, your blog or MySpace, for example.
Ready for serious action? Start a monthly club , helping participants to become more informed and more involved. We’ll help with resources and ideas!
There are a lot of ways to physically wear orange: Shirts, purses, hats, ribbons, patches, socks and more. And there are about as many ways to become an activist in this cause as there are willing people.
We want to connect you and your passions to the movement to end slavery.
Contact us for more information about these, and other ways of becoming a modern Abolitionist, use the contact form on our website or write to:
Runaways 1/3 of all runaways are lured into sexual exploitation within 48 hours of leaving home! 90% eventually end up in the commercial sex trade. Clearly, we need to warn young people and parents of the tactics and dangers.
Children on the fringes– These kids might be from abusive homes or have immigrant parents working two jobs to make ends meet, not able to keep close tabs on their children. Or it might just be that slightly chubby kid who doesn’t quite fit in at school.
Traffickers often use recruiters. ( If you saw the movie “Taken”, the guy at the airport, who took the girl’s picture and shared a cab with them, was the recruiter.) This might be a cute guy who acts like he has a romantic interest in a girl. Or a girl about the same age who becomes a girlfriend. Or a woman. Someone who seems safe and acts as if they will provide the love, care, affirmation and protection the child longs for. They often invest time in a child, until the day when the child trusts the recruiter enough to be put in a position where they can be handed over to the traffickers, and everyone’s true motives are revealed.
In a recent local case, a boy recruited 16 and 17-year-old girls from his rural high school in Robertson County. His mother then trafficked them from a hotel in Murfreesboro.
Immigrants - Unfamiliar with local customs and laws and struggling with the language, immigrants are prime targets. They often have their identification and passport taken from them through force or deception, and are told lies about what would happen to them if they spoke to the police. Traffickers also frequently gather information about a victim’s family members in their home country and threaten reprisals against them.
Anyone – It’s true that traffickers are less likely to recruit from neighborhoods with social power. It’s riskier. A wide spread search is more likely.
But I talked to woman a few months ago who lived in an expensive, exclusive neighborhood and whose father is an executive for a big corporation. She was trafficked by a boy in her high school.
I’ve read about traffickers targeting girls in rural Minnesota because they are sweet and wholesome. Sweet wholesome virgins bring the highest prices. Traffickers are driven by profit, so sometimes they’ll take the risks.
These predators will recruit from malls, schools, playgrounds, theatres, churches, skating rinks, college campuses, bowling alleys– anywhere children and young people can be found
We temporarily interrupt our normal broadcast to make this announcement:
GivMusic is an awesome group of good hearted people connecting artists with causes. Not For Sale TN is highlighted on their site right now. We need YOU to make this go viral! It has the potential to connect us with thousands and also with artists passionate about ending slavery. Please- read it– then pass it on to everyone you know! Thank-you!
According to Detective Matt Dixon, traffickers in Nashville use many ploys.
For example, they will pass out business cards on construction sites advertising innocuous goods and services like tamales or house cleaning. But when men call the number on the card, they are told “Well, we don’t have any tamales today. But we do have some nice young girls.” Sex slaves.
Actual cards confiscated by metro-Nashville police
Truck stops are popular spots for trafficking where prostituted children are derogatorily called “lot lizards” and sent from truck to truck to service men.
More and more, trafficking happens in surrounding rural and suburban areas and small towns. This increasingly computer based business doesn’t need a shop with a sign out front. All traffickers have to do is put an ad on-line, and they are in business. Ordinary homes in residential neighborhoods are used because there are fewer law enforcement resources in these areas and officers are less likely to be trained in human trafficking. Neighbors are not likely to notice what is going on or, if they do, to correctly interpret the suspicious signs. It’s just not on our mental grids to think “Oh, those might be slaves next door” or “That might be a slave owner down the street.
Wide-spread lack of information leads to low levels of victim identification, even by those who come in contact with them. Yet lives can be saved by observant neighbors. I read just this week of a child held in bondage who was rescued because a neighbor noticed her working at chores from early in the morning until late at night, with no evidence of schooling. Girls held in another home were freed after a neighbor noticed mini-vans with groups of men coming to the home on a regular basis. Educating ourselves to the red flags for trafficking is an important first step for all of us. See notforsale.info for this list.
Nashville has all the criteria to be a trafficking hub. We’re at the intersection of three interstates. We have numerous conventions, lots of tourists and thriving businesses coming to town, as well as a large immigrant population. (Immigrants are very vulnerable to trafficking.)
To see details of a few local cases, see slaverymap.org.
Of the 27 million slaves in the world today about half are children.
According to research by the University of Pennsylvania, at least 100,000 AMERICAN children PER YEAR are used for pornography or prostitution.
And here’s a simple statistic that never fails to pierce my heart: Two children are trafficked into sexual exploitation every minute
Traffickers typically use recruiters. That might be a 16 year old boy who acts like he has a romantic interest in a girl. Or a girl around the same age as the targeted victim , or a woman. Someone who seems safe and who acts like they are the ones who will provide what the child is longing for: love, protection, affirmation and attention. Recruiters invest time cultivating a child’s trust until the day comes when the child is in a position to be handed over to a trafficker. Then everyone’s true motivations are revealed.
So who’s vulnerable?
Runaways 1/3 are lured into sexual exploitation within 48 hours of leaving home! 90% eventually end up in commercial sex trade. We need to warn young people and parents about the tactics and dangers of trafficking!
Children on the fringes. These may be kids from abusive homes or those neglected by harried immigrant parents working two jobs to make ends meet. Or it may just be the chubby child who doesn’t quite fit in.
Anyone
Traffickers are less likely to recruit from neighborhoods with social power. It’s riskier and a wide spread search is more likely. But I talked to a woman a few months ago who lived in an expensive, exclusive neighborhood and was trafficked by boy in her high school. I’ve read of traffickers targeting girls in rural Minnesota simply because they are sweet and wholesome, and sweet wholesome virgins bring the highest prices. Traffickers are driven by profit, so sometimes they will take increased risks.
In our most recent local case, 16 and 17 year old girls from a rural high school were the victims. Anyone, of any race, in any locale and with any socio-economic status can become a trafficker’s prey. Traffickers will recruit from malls, schools, bowling alleys, skating rinks, playgrounds, theatres– anywhere children can be found.
Just a couple of hours into the long drive from Columbus to Florida, the young girl sensed that she had made a dangerous mistake. The 14-year-old, who had pretended to be 18, admitted her real age to the people who promised to make her a star model and asked them to return her to her extended family in Columbus. The student lived in a middle-class neighborhood with her parents in another state but had been visiting family in Columbus.
Alan Townsend was enraged by the girl’s plea. According to FBI records, slapped her face and told her that he was going to keep her.
Just a few days earlier, the girl encountered Townsend and his recruiter, Courtney Shine, on a social-networking page. First came a wave of e-mails, then a cell number, and then the girl met Shine in a park. Townsend typically used Shine to make the initial contact with young girls to make them feel more comfortable.
Shine assured the girl that she would be safe and everything would be “cool” on the trip to Florida. During the drive, the girl said Townsend continued to slap her and attempted to fondle her several times.
Townsend, Shine and the girl arrived in Gainesville, Fla., on June 13 of last year.
The girl was soon given a condom and told to offer sex for $150 to the first man who walked by their cheap hotel room.
“I’m a virgin!” the girl pleaded. “I’m a virgin.”
The next night, the girl again refused to solicit men in a hotel parking lot and began to cry.
“Stop being a bitch,” Townsend said.
Both Townsend and Shine attempted to have sex with the 14-year-old, but she again fended them off.
Finally, after a stop in Orlando, they arrived in Daytona Beach, where the girl was able to break free and use a stranger’s cell phone to call police.
The girl was unharmed and returned to Columbus. Both Townsend and Shine were arrested and recently plead guilty to sex trafficking.
Now, Townsend, who admitted to being involved with at least six other girls, is serving an eight-year prison term.
“I wasn’t gonna just give up, ’cause I was like, ‘I brought this girl all the way down here,’ ” Townsend told detectives in Florida. “I might as well get something out of it.”
Those of us involved in anti-human trafficking have been working hard to rescue and aid a few victims, and that is marvelous. Every human life freed from bondage is cause for great celebration. Every victim needs a wide array of care and to know that people care about them. Recently, for example, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of donors providing household goods and furnishings for a rescued victim who was moved to a town in Tennessee for her protection.
But this approach is rather like running around with a mop to clean up after an overflowing toilet. At some point, we need to shut off the water!
Next steps
Here are the next steps that Not For Sale Tennessee (NFSTN) is focusing on:
Training: We provide training for the people likely to make first contact with victims or to see the suspicious activity indicating trafficking. Currently, NFSTN is training apartment managers, medical professionals, teachers and university faculty, pastors/priests, and law enforcement students. A recent Health and Human Services grant will provide training for law enforcement officers throughout Middle Tennessee, which is a big step in the right direction. Perhaps you will be the one who will open the doors, making it possible for cable installers, social workers, postal carriers and others to receive training.
Demand Abatement: NFSTN volunteers are teaching men in the John School (for men arrested for soliciting prostitutes) how their choices feed into the monstrous machine of human trafficking and support organized crime. Marna Jane said several in her audience were clearly shocked and moved and one man spoke to her of his horror at thinking of his own daughters and grandchildren being victimized.
Prevention: We need teachers/education students/curriculum specialists/good writers to develop a curriculum that can be easily implemented by volunteers, to teach at-risk youth, parents, and staff/volunteers at immigrant and inner-city service providers about the tactics and dangers of traffickers.
Research: Modern slavery is a hidden crime and uncovering it is the first step towards ending it. Our research documents past cases, and will soon feed into a national database being developed by Not For Sale Campaign. (See slaverymap.org) This information will affect public policy, reveal trafficking patterns and aid effective strategizing.
We also catalog local print and on-line ads for sex services, noting trafficking indicators. Our work is handed over to law enforcement with the goal of leading to prosecution.
Spreading the Word: We speak frequently to high school and college campuses, professional organizations, civic groups, and faith communities. Everywhere we go, the most common response is “I had NO idea!”, followed by “What can I do about it?”*
Lack of awareness leads to low levels of victim identification, even by those who come in contact with them. Volunteer Lucia created a poster with the national hotline help number and tips for identifying victims. Volunteers, from truck drivers to student groups, place these posters in strategic locations, and others are translating them into languages used by area immigrants. Another friend, Daniel, donated 200 posters and arranged for at-cost printing for 1,000 more. According to police, these posters are a very effective tool leading to victim rescue.
*There is still so much to accomplish and there is a place for everyone. Let us help you find YOUR part the work to end modern day slavery in Tennessee and beyond. Write to us at info@notforsaletn.org
My first thoughts turn to projects, funding, powerful oratory, passion, media attention and connections. But recent encounters with leaders in the anti-slavery realm, and with my own flesh, cause me to rethink my list and to recall a teaching I heard years ago by John Dawson of Youth With a Mission (YWAM.) To win spiritual battles, John said, we must fight in the opposite spirit.
Traffickers are selfish, willing to destroy the lives of others for their own personal gain. They are proud and demand respect. One trafficker recently arrested even had a throne and crown in his living room! They speak words that tear down, humiliate, terrify and paralyze. Their word is law, and their victims are mere commodities, whose thoughts, needs and opinions are not taken into consideration. Speaking loudly is more important than speaking lovingly. Words of gratitude are certainly not on their lips; the services rendered by their victims are taken as their due. And they are competitive, each building their own little kingdom and looking out for their own interests.
How can we, as activists in the movement to end modern day slavery, come at our work in the opposite spirit? We can :
Extend grace to cover over each other’s shortcomings.
Speak words, face to face and to others, that build up, not tear down.
Listen and show genuine respect for the opinions of others, whether we agree or not.
Have the humility to consider that we might have something to learn from someone else.
Recognize that just because someone does things differently than we do does not mean they are wrong.
Yearn for God’s standards, and not set up our own measuring stick by which everyone else falls short.
Express gratitude for those who do us a service.
Want the best for each other, and show it in words and actions.
Think the best of others, and show it in words and actions.
Live for the Audience of One, wanting His approval and freedom for the people He loves and created, more than we want to build our organizations; eagerly work to support each other in every way we can, and genuinely rejoice in each other’s victories.
Our enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. May we give lavishly, bring life through our words and deeds and build each other up.
Just a couple of hours into the long drive from Columbus to Florida, the young girl sensed that she had made a dangerous mistake. The 14-year-old, who had pretended to be 18, admitted her real age to the people who promised to make her a star model and asked them to return her to her extended family in Columbus. The student lived in a middle-class neighborhood with her parents in another state but had been visiting family in Columbus.
